


A Whole New World

by zorogem19



Series: Open Your Eyes [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Alternate Universe - Not Hockey Player(s), Baseball!Player Sid, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pens!Captain Geno, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Steelers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 10:59:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11334357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zorogem19/pseuds/zorogem19
Summary: Zhenya begrudgingly goes to a Pirates game at Serozhya's insistence, missing the game of his beloved Steelers. Thankfully at the Pirates game, he finds a man with an incredible booty and smile.





	A Whole New World

**Author's Note:**

> Long behold! I'm posting this after 84 years. Yes I know it's long overdue but in my defense, I had exams so I delayed it until now. The plot was in my head for a long time, tormenting me to write it. My only incentive was after exams. I already wrote a fic-ish on tumblr before posting it here. Thank you to my amazing betas Sabrina, Ahrebby and [jay18817](https://twitter.com/Jay18817/).This is set during the 2007-2008 season, after Geno's rookie year.

Zhenya is about to settle into his couch comfortably, watching the Steelers game until Serozhya rudely interrupts him. 

“Let’s go, Zhenya,” Serozhya taps him on the arm. 

“Let’s go where?” Zhenya narrows his eyes. 

Clearly, he can see that Zhenya wants to watch the football game. 

“I got us two tickets for the Pirates game,” Serozhya replies. 

“But why? I’m going to watch the Steelers game,” he points at the TV. 

“Yeah, well, too bad. You’re watching the Pirates game,” 

“But why?” Zhenya asks again, very perplexed. 

 _Why is he trying to take me to a fucking baseball game?!_ Baseball is utter boredom. Little to no action in the sport. There is no suspense, it doesn’t keep you gripping the edge of your seat. One time, he accidentally stumbled upon a baseball game while channel surfing for one of the nature shows. Five minutes into the game, he found himself almost dozing off. From that point on, he told himself he is never watching a baseball game ever again. 

“Seriously why do we have to go? Baseball is fucking boring!” He repeats for the umpteenth time. 

“Because it will get you accustomed to North America,” Serozhya says exasperatedly. 

“I’m plenty acclimated to North American cultures! I like the Steelers. I watch their games every week during the football season. They are fun.” Zhenya is absolutely seething.  

“This is baseball. America’s favourite pastime. Learn to appreciate it,” Serozhya wryly says. 

“But—”  

“No ifs or buts. We’re going,” Serozhya says with firm resolute. Zhenya has no choice but to obey. 

“Fine,” he huffs. “I’ll go. Let me change into something.” 

“That’s the spirit,” Serozhya claps his shoulder. “Don’t take a long time. We’ll be late to the game,” he calls out as Zhenya goes upstairs. 

A few minutes later, Zhenya begrudgingly comes downstairs dressed in a plain white t-shirt, distressed blue jeans and a Steelers snapback worn backwards topped with a pair of black sunglasses. 

“What?” Zhenya asks defensively as Serozhya gives him a critical once-over. “I’m not wearing anything questionable.” 

“Nothing,” Serozhya shakes his head. “Let’s get moving.” 

Zhenya grumbles the entire car ride. He cannot believe he’s missing his Steelers game and instead going to a dull baseball game. He will be snoring the entire game guaranteed. Fuck Serozhya for thinking he’s not accustomed to North American cultures. He’s the captain of an NHL team! He watches reality TV shows, some are great and some are just pure trash but still they’re just so entertaining.  

As they exit out of the car, Zhenya crosses his arms, furious.  

“Stop acting like a child,” Serozhya scolds him. “Maybe you’ll have fun. You never know. Keep an open mind.” 

The weather is a nice, clear and bright sunny day, a perfect day for baseball. They find their seats close to the middle section. 

Zhenya resumes his complaining with a prominent scowl and muttering mutinously under his breath, “what a fucking waste of my time. Could’ve watched the Steelers game.” 

“Have some patience, Zhenya,” Serozhya reprimands him. 

He crosses his arms again, rolls his eyes to sky, shaking his head until something suddenly catches his attention. The Pirates player is gearing up to throw the ball for the 1st pitch of the game. Zhenya quickly straightens up, slides down his sunglasses and wonders _what a sight! That ass! Wow! You can see it from space! Oh God!_ Other thoughts complimenting the Pirates’ player’s backside races through his mind. Then he sees the beautiful and radiant smile and his whole body immediately warms up. _He is so fucking pretty!_ Zhenya marvels.  His head tilts to the side as he continues his admiration. 

Serozhya notices Zhenya’s sudden switch from boredom to interest. His eyes follow the motion of Zhenya’s and discovers the reason. Zhenya is openly ogling the Pirates pitcher’s butt. He shakes his head, amused by the whole behaviour. _Children,_ he muses and looks heavenward. 

He leans by Zhenya’s ear and whispers lewdly, “see something you like?” 

Zhenya’s reaction is instantaneous and hilarious. He quickly backtracks and sputters, “no! Baseball is still boring,” while his eyes helplessly roam back to the Pirates pitcher. 

The pitcher throws a strike on his first pitch. The crowd around them erupts in cheers and high fives.  

“That’s Sidney Crosby. In case you’re wondering,” Serozhya inputs helpfully. “He’s regarded as the next generational talent in baseball, baseball’s version of Wayne Gretzky. This is his third season with the Pirates.” 

“How come I’ve never seen him or heard about him until now?” Zhenya petulantly asks. As if there’s a possibility that he would forget that magnificent ass and the glowing smile if he saw it in Pens annual charity events with all the Pittsburgh's major sports teams.  

“Because your mind is always on hockey, you dumbass. Or sometimes football. Never pay a single attention to baseball. Also, you skipped the last time we came here to support the Pirates.” 

“Well…he throws well,” Zhenya relays after a long minute of silence, unsure of what to say. 

“He throws well and his ass looks well also,” Serozhya supplies with an eyebrow raised suggestively. 

Zhenya gasps and rounds on him. “Serozhya! You have a wife and kids!” He is absolutely outraged and floored by his teammate’s comment. 

“Yes, I’m married Zhenya,” Serozhya rolls his eyes, “but I have eyes. I’m allowed to look. Besides,” Serozhya shifts his focus, “I saw you checking out the rear view. Don’t lie.” 

“I—Um—No! I was—just admiring his throwing skills. He’s—He’s got a great—A great arm! What ass! No ass!” Zhenya continues to stutter and progressively gets more flustered from his futile attempts to explain himself.

“Save your breath,” Serozhya holds up his hand to silence the stutters. “That is a thing of beauty. Or should I say _booty_ ,” he hoots with laughter, amused by his own humour. 

“Ugh, you’re terrible,” Zhenya groans. “Keep watching the game,” he chides. His ears are burning red. 

Zhenya was right: baseball is boring but the only parts of the game that were memorable was every time Sidney came to the field to pitch. That was the highlight of otherwise a forgetful day. Towards the end of the game close to 11th inning, a resolve forms in his mind: he must meet Sidney Crosby. As the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins, he should at least get to know another prominent sports figure in the city. _That’s respectful_ , he convinces himself. _You’re definitely not trying to meet him because he has an amazing booty. Totally._   

As the game ends, the score is 6-3 Pirates. With the departing crowd as a distraction, he tries to slip out quietly, praying to God that Serozhya doesn’t notice. Unfortunately, Serozhya has the eyes of a hawk and Zhenya doesn’t succeed at the escapade. 

“Where are you going?” Serozhya asks with a scary glimmer in his eyes. 

“Uhh just…you know…going to the washroom,” Zhenya fumbles an answer. 

Serozhya gives him a steady look. “Going to meet Crosby, aren’t you?”  

“Yeah…was thinking about it. At least,” Zhenya fidgets with the gold necklace worn around his neck. 

“You should go,” Serozhya gently says. “Meet him. Talk to him. You never know,” he shrugs. After giving his sage advice, he claps Zhenya’s shoulder and begins to walk towards his car. 

“Don’t wait for me!” Zhenya calls out to his retreating back. 

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t gonna anyways,” Serozhya yells. “Have fun,” he singsongs. 

Zhenya steels himself and takes a deep breath. _You got this_. _What’s the worst thing that could happen? You just_ _wanna_ _talk to him. Nothing bad. You are a pro athlete. You are not_ _gonna_ _scream in his face. Stay cool._ He starts to regain some of his swagger and confidence. Moments later, his mind unhelpfully supplies, _even though he’s a great athlete with an ass that’s just out of this world._  

At that moment, he spots Crosby and approaches him. He completely loses the bit of confidence he had and stammers, “good game.” His cheeks have a slight tinge of pink of embarrassment. 

Crosby’s turns around and his eyes widen. He blushes and stutters out, “thank you.” 

Sidney is absolutely flabbergasted. _Evgeni Malkin! Captain of Pittsburgh Penguins is complimenting me! Wow!_ He watches all Pens games his hectic schedule allows him and his favourite player is none other than the man who is standing right in front of him, looking a little flushed. 

“Throw so well. First strike in first pitch. Wow,” Zhenya praises. He is still marvelled by his first pitch. _What a show of skill_. 

Sidney politely replies, “thank you.” His mind delightfully shouts, _he saw my pitch!_ _He noticed me!_ His brain is a litany of _oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!_  

“You have a great shot.”  

Zhenya rapidly tilts his head back, surprised. _He watches hockey?! Wait he watched me play? What?_  

“You watch hockey?” He puzzlingly asks. 

Sidney lets out a honking laugh, sound resembling to a goose. Zhenya finds it terribly endearing. “Yeah, I’m Canadian. I played hockey when I was young,” he replies. 

“Oh wow! Canadians play baseball? I’m not know that.” He is genuinely interested in Sidney now besides his wonderful rear end and adorable goose laugh. _Since when do Canadians play professional baseball?_ All the Canadians that he knows in his hockey team love hockey. He has heard them mentioning other sports but they usually stick to hockey. Baseball is a very American sport as far as he’s aware. 

Sidney bashfully tells him, “yeah baseball became primary focus after all the craziness from hockey.” 

Zhenya plucks some courage and takes off his sunglasses to reveal a set of warm, dark brown eyes. _Ask him something about himself!_ His mind chides. Instead he blurts, “how Sidney Crosby best baseball player go dinner?” 

For a second, Sidney is very taken aback. _Holy shit! Did he just ask me out?! Did Evgeni Malkin just ask me out on a date?! AHHHH!_ He coyly replies, “Wellllll…if he asks nicely,” looking at Evgeni through his long lashes, his clear hazel eyes glittering in the soft, orange evening light. The sun is giving a glimpse of its final rays of the day, peeking through the clouds, turning them a brilliant mix of pink and orange.  

Zhenya smirks, _damn those eyes!_

He leans in to whisper close to Sidney’s ear, “dinner please?” 

Sidney is blushing to the roots of his hair. _Oh my God_ _he totally asked me out! Holy shit!_ He smiles widely, “Yes, I’d love to, Evgeni,” a little breathlessly, hoping Malkin didn’t notice the waver in his voice. He completely butchers the pronunciation of Zhenya’s name. 

 _It’s ok,_ he reassures his mind as he prevents himself from grimacing subconsciously. _No one here can say it anyways._  

Zhenya says, “call me Geno. Easy for Americans.” 

Sidney frowns, “I’m not an American. I’m Canadian. Ok, I’ll call you Geno.” 

“Ok, North American. Same thing,” Zhenya says good-naturedly, tongue caught behind his teeth. 

“Sure.”  

Sidney and Zhenya are grinning madly, unable to take their eyes off each other, looking like two idiots. After a while, Sidney asks, “should we go to a steakhouse or do you prefer go somewhere else?” 

Zhenya with a great deal of difficulty answers, “no steakhouse fine,” with a smile. 

Sidney and Zhenya walk towards Sidney’s car grinning ear to ear. Sidney quickly walks ahead to hold his door out for Zhenya. 

“Such gentleman,” Zhenya pretends to swoon as he sits down. “Thank you.” 

Sidney blushes and shoots a small smile, “no problem.” 

They settle on a pop music radio station, both humming terribly off-key and smiling to themselves. _Cannot believe this_ , both think in amazement of their luck. Five minutes later, Sidney turns right to a steakhouse. Again, he quickly exits out of his seat to hold open Zhenya’s door. 

At the dinner, conversation flows easily between them. As the date goes along, both relax and find themselves enamoured with each other. Sidney discovers that Evgeni has a brother named Denis who is a year older. He decided to pursue his career in steel industries back home in Magnitogorsk instead.  

“You have sibling?” Zhenya asks between the bites. 

“Yeah, I just have one sister. Taylor. She’s eight years younger than me. Plays goalie,” he replies. 

“Sister play goalie?” Zhenya raises an eyebrow politely. 

“My dad was a goalie. Got drafted by the Habs. Never played in NHL but still pretty big on hockey. I was a goalie for a while then I switched to forward. I stopped playing hockey when I was probably 12 or close to 13.” 

“Why you stop?” Zhenya slightly wrinkles his forehead. 

Sidney hesitates for a second then answers, “You know Canada…it gets pretty wild there. Parents and kids are really into it. I just thought, you know go in a different direction,” he ends with a shrug. 

Zhenya wants to ask more questions about Sidney’s decision to switch to baseball but he can see that Sidney is clearly uncomfortable so he chooses not to push the subject. He wants this date to go well and he won’t ruin it. They have time for that later. 

Their waiter arrives to ask, “would you like to order dessert?” 

Zhenya and Sidney simultaneously reply, “yes,” “no.” They look away from each other, furiously blushing. 

“I just had a game, I don’t know if I should eat one,” Sidney reluctantly says. 

“Is ok,” Zhenya pats his hand. “We share?”  

“Ok,” Sidney smiles. “Alright, we can share.” 

“We want…,” Zhenya scans the menu, “what you like, Sidney?” He asks. 

“Um…I don’t have preferences. Anything really,” Sidney replies while his eyes are still glued to the picture of a cheesecake. 

Zhenya notices and smiles. “We want cheesecake, please,” he requests the waiter. 

“Coming right up,” waiter tells them with a smile. 

A short while later, their cheesecake arrives with two spoons. Zhenya lets Sidney eat most of the cheesecake having noticed his earlier liking. 

They unanimously agree upon to split the check. Once again, Sidney displays his Canadian politeness by opening the door and walking Geno to his front door.  

“I had a great time,” Sidney sincerely smiles, warm hazel eyes luminous in the dark, “thanks.” He has never had such an instant connection with someone. 

“Me too,” Zhenya nods, “meet again?” 

“Sure,” Sidney replies enthusiastically. 

They exchange numbers and Sidney slowly walks back towards his car. Zhenya dorkily waves bye to Sid as he peels his car away from the driveway, a broad smile threatening to stay in his face forever.  

Serozhya witnesses the two grinning and staring at each other like fools and the exchange of numbers from his living room window. As Sidney drives away from the driveway, he opens the door. Zhenya, oblivious is still waving to the car. 

“Did you have fun?” Serozhya asks. 

Zhenya startles and clutches his chest, “you scared the shit out of me!” 

“I opened the door long time ago, you just weren't paying attention, looking like a fool in front of the house and grinning like a madman.” 

“Shut up,” Zhenya scowls. 

“Soooo…I’m guessing from the big smile that the date went well.” Serozhya relays, eyebrows raised to his balding head. 

“Yeah,” Zhenya dreamily says and the smile was back. 

“You have practice tomorrow! Go to bed!” Serozhya ushers him inside. 

“Yes! Yes!” Zhenya holds his hands up in surrender, “I am! I am, old man. Hold your horses!” 

*******

Two months into their relationship, Zhenya and Sid are lying on Sidney’s bed, about to drift off to sleep. Zhenya runs his hand slowly on Sid’s bare back in a soothing, mindless pattern. 

“You never say why you stop playing hockey, Sid” Zhenya says sleepily. 

“I guess I should tell you now. When I was twelve, I was already playing in a league with boys two years older than me. Every time I stepped on the ice, the parent would holler things like, 'Why is he playing here?' 'Get him, son!' 'Crush him!' The players from the opposing team would try to murder me every day. My teammates wouldn’t stand up for me either. They would watch me get crushed by hits. My mom just couldn’t stand it anymore. She told my dad to stop taking me to hockey practices. After a couple of games, my dad agreed and we switched to baseball. I was pretty good at baseball before so I thought why not try to pursue a career in that, you know? No one was gonna hurt me, at least. Yeah, that’s why I stopped playing hockey.” Sid finishes flatly. 

Zhenya horrified by the tale, hugs Sid tighter, bringing Sid’s head close to his collarbone. “What! Sid, you not tell me this before! Parents so bad, tell kids crush you.” Zhenya presses a hard kiss to Sid’s temple. 

Zhenya with a fierce look, cups his hands around Sid’s face, searches his face and tells him with warm conviction, “you great baseball player.” He leans his head over to softly brush his lips against Sid’s. Sid responds gently, hands roaming across Geno’s back and stomach. They kiss for a while, giving their best shot. Eventually, sleep breaks them apart. 

“Imagine you a hockey player though,” he says wistfully, forehead resting against Sid’s. His heart breaking for twelve-year-old Sid, stepping on the ice, enduring all the harassment and abuse. _Parents are so fucking disgusting_ , his mind states with disgust. _Ugh._

“Yeah, I don’t regret the decision now, to be honest with you,” Sid trails his hands along Geno’s cheek, “I met you,”  

“Yeah, you meet me,” Zhenya tenderly says, “could play Penguins hockey in future.” 

“We could’ve been teammates,” Sid shrugs, “but you’re part of my team anyway.” 

“Yes,” Geno nods steadfastly. “We team. Always.” 

He reaches over to turn the bedside lamp off. He maneuvers them with Sid’s head rests on Zhenya’s heart, rhythmic sound lulling Sid to sleep. Zhenya throws his leg over one of Sid’s huge thighs, trapping the warmth between them. 

“Good night, Sid,” he whispers. 

“Good night, Geno,” Sid whispers back. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this. I hope you liked it. I'm sorry it's so late but please comment. Feedback means a lot to me. You can find me on tumblr and twitter, screaming and angry liveblogging and livetweeting about hockey.  
> Twitter: [@fatems_19](https://twitter.com/fatems_19/)  
> Tumblr: [dangerouslyaddictivethings](http://dangerouslyaddictivethings.tumblr.com/)  
> 


End file.
